castrate
/ˈkæs.tɹeɪt/noun, verb
castrate is spelled C-A-S-T-R-A-T-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, castrate means “A castrated man; a eunuch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of castrate is castrates.
How many letters and syllables are in castrate?
| Letters | 8: C-A-S-T-R-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is castrate?
Castrate appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce castrate?
- UK /kæsˈtɹeɪt/
- US /ˈkæs.tɹeɪt/
As a verb (“To remove the testicles of a person or animal”): /ˈkæs.tɹeɪt/, /kæsˈtɹeɪt/, /ˈkæs.tɹeɪt/.
Castrate has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-castrate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of castrate
- castrates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- castrating participle, present
- castrated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does castrate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A castrated man; a eunuch.
verb
- 1
To remove the testicles of a person or animal.
- 2
To remove the ovaries and/or uterus of an animal.
- 3
To take something from; to render imperfect or ineffectual.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Castrate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense remove the testicles of:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | châtrer, castrer |
| German | kastrieren, verschneiden |
| Portuguese | castrar, capar |
| Spanish | capar, castrar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does castrate come from?
Likely from an unattested sense of Middle English castrat (“(adjective) castrated; (noun) a castrated animal”), substantivized borrowing of Latin castrātus, perfect passive participle of castrō (“to prune, amputate, castrate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).